


I Want a Dream Lover, so I Don't Have to Dream Alone

by SlightlySmutty



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Don't know if there will actually be smut yet, Dreams, Dreamsharing, Ethan Nestor - Freeform, F/M, Falling In Love, Forgetting, Heartache, Love, On Hiatus, Reader is Demisexual, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Burn, Unrequited Love, YouTube, will continue to add as things ramp up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-07-10 08:30:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15945611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlightlySmutty/pseuds/SlightlySmutty
Summary: In another dimension, one much like our own, science and technology have advanced so much that someone's soulmate can be pinpointed practically the moment the younger of the predestined pair is born. Each half of the pair can go through life, meeting or not meeting their soulmate, until the night of the youngest's 18th birthday, when technology steps in once more to help.





	1. Chapter 1

It has been said that most people already know the person they'll grow up to marry by the time they're 16 years old. Whether or not this has any basis in truth is beyond me, but it has been spread far and wide, usually by infatuation-sick teenagers trying to get their crush to notice them.

Or, that's how it used to work, anyway. Before everything changed, and we started being matched up, practically at birth. That may sound fairly ominous, but it actually worked out for the better; pretty much  _everyone_ in this day and age meets and falls in love with their soulmate. A lot of people will meet their soulmate in high school, some even earlier. I've been told it's a very special, intense moment. 

Anyone who doesn't meet their soulmate by then has something very special happen to them; starting on the 18th birthday of the younger soulmate, the two will start having shared dreams so they can meet, get to know each other, and fall in love. The only catch is, neither remembers their dream when they wake up, and you only become aware of the person that is your soulmate when you see them in the real world, though some people who are more in tune with their dreams can remember the exact date they started dreaming of their S.O., but can't remember much else before they see their person. Then, everything they learned about their partner from dreams come flooding back to them.

I am of the latter group; I never met my person in school, or in the couple years I gave college a try. I dated a bit, though, which was still common. Even if you know they aren't your soulmate, the loneliness can get to you after a while, and I was no exception. They ended amicably enough, probably because there aren't any high expectations for it to go anywhere when you  _know_ the person isn't your soulmate.

Which brings me to now, at the age of 21. I still hadn't dreamed of my soulmate, or at least, I was pretty sure I hadn't. Not that it really mattered, as I was in a world of my own anyway, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life that would make me happy.

I sighed, pulled out my keys, and unlocked the door to my apartment. Once it was open, I turned on the light but just stood in the doorway for a few moments, staring into the empty 1 bedroom layout. I finally walked in, closing the door behind me and unceremoniously dropping the container of food my sister had insisted I take home with me on the counter. Life had become very different after she met her soulmate in college; she used to be a constant in my life, we'd spend almost every day hanging out, making things together, playing games, or just existing in the same space together. Once she met her soulmate, a lot of that changed. She was still very much the same person, but she moved in with them very quickly, and wanted to spend all her time with them. I'm sure I sound bitter, maybe even jealous, when venting about it to friends, but I'm not. Her partner is a great person and a real sweetheart, we practically get along even better than my sister and I do. It's just, it can get lonely without her around.

I consider for what must be the hundredth time tonight downloading Tinder on my phone, before shaking my head at myself and turning back to put the food away into the fridge. Things like that had never worked for me, I knew that a fling that would be over in the morning would make me feel even more lonely once it was over, and I wouldn't even enjoy it.

With nothing left to do, I brushed my teeth, changed, and flopped into bed. Normally, it would take me a while to wind down enough to fall asleep, but tonight I was out almost immediately. When my eyes opened, greeted by an apartment that wasn't mine, and stared at the back of a stranger silhouetted by the window full of moonlight he stood in front of, I understood why.

It was my soulmate's birthday. 


	2. Chapter 2

I was frozen in place, unsure of what to do. I pieced together fairly quickly why I was here...wherever 'here' is. 

Looking around, I once more took in where I was, becoming more and more certain it was a living space, probably larger than mine. Once I had seen enough of the room from where I was standing, I once again observed the person standing at the window, their back to me.

The light of the moon was surprisingly bright since all the lights were off, so much so that I couldn't make out much detail aside from their height, which was precariously balancing between being taller than the average height for females, while on the lower end of being short for a guy. Their hair was short, maybe brown, and they were standing in a very comfortable stance, their hands in their pockets. I chewed on my lower lip nervously, not sure how to make my presence known without startling the person in front of me, or how to even begin a conversation.  _Great, even in my dreams I'm socially awkward. Screw it, here goes nothing._ I took a small, hesitant step forward, before finally finding my voice. 

"Um, excuse me...?" At the sound of my voice, the stranger whirled around, and once he was fully facing me, my mind went blank. I stood, once more frozen in place, mouth slightly parted, eyes wide, just staring. For his part, my beautiful stranger reacted in a similar way. Hands originally in pockets were now hanging by his sides, eyebrows slightly raised, blue-green eyes a little wider than was probably usual for them, mouth open for words that hadn't come out fast enough to make it before we made eye contact.

Then, all at once, the shock on his face melted into a look that was heart meltingly affectionate, his eyes and smile lit up and rivaled the moonlight he was still standing in.  _I've waited so long to see someone look at me like this._ The thought alone was almost enough to make me tear up, but didn't quite make it, because now I was smiling. He let out a laugh of surprise, and it immediately became my favorite sound.

"Holy shit, it's you!" I tried to hold back a snort. Out of all the first sentences I've heard, that was a first. I nodded eagerly as he walked over to me, beaming. He stopped in front of me and we just stood for a bit, staring at each other and smiling.  _Wow is he pretty._ Finally, he cleared his throat and his smile turned a little shy, "So um, my name's Ethan." I repeated it back to him, enjoying the sound of it, the way it came out of my mouth. I told him my name and watched him test it out the same way I tried his, loving the way my name sounded on his tongue. It sounded safe with him.

He eagerly led me over to a couch, and began to ask questions about my likes and dislikes, sometimes faster than I could answer them. My passions, fears, allergies, friends, favorite foods and animals were all asked about, and his in return. I learned that he had a very serious allergy to peanuts, and a very intense adoration for raccoons, which I found to be adorable, especially when he started talking about 'how cute their little hands are,' while cupping his own together to show me. He also told me all about his best friend, initially speaking shyly when he admitted his best friend was a girl, but relaxing immediately when I went on to tell him about my best friend, who was a boy.

As he talked, I examined him a little closer. My initial guess on brown hair was correct, and it somehow made his eyes look even brighter. His figure was lean, but when I glanced at his arms, I was surprised at the muscles that would tense and flex with the movements he made. His skin was very lovely and almost looked porcelain in the natural light, though that made the tones in his skin look rather uneven. Or maybe they  _were_  uneven, it was hard to tell in this lighting. 

Finally starting to feel more comfortable, I took another brief look around before turning back to Ethan. "Do you uh, know where we are, by any chance?" He nodded eagerly as he looked around. It seemed everything he did always had a lot of energy behind it, more energy than I had ever put into anything in my entire life. "Yup! This is my house...oh, right. I guess that means you don't know where you are. Let me show you around!" He went to reach for my hand before hesitating, blushing, and just waving for me to follow after him. 

He showed me every room on the first floor before beginning to tip toe up the stairs, turning to me and putting a finger to his lips before continuing up the stairs. I quirked an eyebrow, but followed him silently anyway.  _Wait...does he think-_

My thought process was interrupted by a loudly exclaimed, "Oh!" I walked over to where he was standing in a doorway, looking into what must have been the master bedroom of the house. He turned to look at me, expression now sheepish.

"I may have forgotten that this was a dream." I quickly tried to cover my mouth so he couldn't see me trying to fight back laughter, but he was already moving on to show me more of the house anyway. I moved my hand away and smiled at the person excitedly beckoning me to come with him.  _He's adorable._

 

Once the tour of the house was completed, we went back down the stairs to sit on the couch again, and I felt much more comfortable now knowing the entire house. I looked at him to find him already looking at me, and we both smiled.  _If I were watching this in a movie, I'd be rolling my eyes and complaining about how cheesy it is._ But it  _wasn't,_ not when it was with him. 

"So...I guess it's gonna be a little tricky to find you, huh? I mean, I'm certain I've never seen you before." Ethan hummed in agreement, looking down at his lap. "Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. But I'll find you, I promise." He looked up as he finished his sentence to look at me, and I smiled. My smile started to fade when I glanced over his shoulder to see the sun beginning to rise. He turned to see what I was looking at and gave a small, sad sigh, then turned and looked at me once more.

"Well, on the bright side, we have every single night together until we find each other. Can I have a hug? Is that okay to ask-?" I cut him off by wrapping my arms around him as fast as I could, and he did the same, giving me a gentle squeeze. Normally I wasn't an overly touchy person, but I could have stayed in his arms forever. As I felt the dream begin to lift from my mind, I rested my chin on his shoulder, and whispered, "Happy birthday, Ethan."

When I woke up, I woke up alone. I wasn't sure why, but I felt happier than I had in a long while. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a lot of fun writing this up, so I hope it's an enjoyable read! There will absolutely be more characters, most likely Mark, Tyler, probably Sean and Amy, but I want this to flow as naturally as possible so no one else is being tagged yet, with the exception of Kathryn. Okay, see you all for the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you're reading this fic, chances are you know a bit about Ethan's friends. I didn't want our lovely main character to be friendless, so this chapter is mostly fleshing out her social circle, and they'll all be around her fairly frequently, so this isn't just a throwaway chapter.
> 
> Thanks so much to anyone who's read this, and I hope to see you in the next chapter!

I stood at the sink in my sister's apartment, humming cheerfully as I peeled potatoes. She kept glancing over at me, curious but smiling. Finally, when she finished up with the onion she had been chopping, she put her knife down and turned to me while she dried her hands.

"Alright girl, spill." I looked up from my task and arched an eyebrow. She smirked and crossed her arms, continuing with her prodding, "Don't give me that look! You're practically glowing, you haven't stopped smiling since you got here. If I didn't know better..." Her eyes shot wide open as she leaned towards me eagerly. "Wait. Hold up. Wait a minute."

"Put a little love in it?" I finished for her. She scoffed slightly, "Not where I was going. Did you meet your soulmate and not tell me?" My eyes widened and I quickly shook my head. I couldn't imagine meeting the love of my life and not telling her immediately. Not only was she my best friend, but that's exactly what she did when she met her significant other.

"I would never leave you in the dark like that. I don't know why I'm happy. I just woke up in a really good mood today." That seemed to put her at ease and her posture relaxed, leaning back against her counter. It only lasted for a second or two, as she soon squinted at me, then quickly took my hand and brought me into the living room. I was about to ask why until she stopped in the middle of the room and examined me closer, which made sense; the living room had the best lighting in the entire unit. I watched her look over my face, my stance, and any time her eyes floated back to mine, I smiled at her. Finally, she took a step back, her eyes softening as she gave me a small, but happy smile.

"I, I think you may have met your soulmate last night. Like, the dream way. You're acting the exact same way I did after I had the dream, remember?" I tried to think back. It hadn't been too too long ago, but we weren't really looking for any signs; we didn't know what to look for. The more I thought about it, though, the more I remembered her practically skipping around everywhere, singing softly to herself with no explanation as to why she was so happy, though at that point we had just waved it off. It wasn't so out of character for her that we really thought about it. Not that I was an unhappy person, I was content most of the time, I just tended to be much quieter about it than she did. her suggestion did get me thinking, though. Did I have the dream last night? I guess it would explain why I was happy and didn't know why; practically no one remembers their dreams with their soulmates until they see them outside of their dreams, which may sound terrible, but believe me it's a blessing.

I've heard about people who remember their dreams, and it can be frustrating knowing you're in love with someone who doesn't realize you exist yet. Or even worse, the people who have celebrity soulmates. Those poor people almost never meet their soulmate, but spend their whole life knowing exactly who they are without ever being able to reach them. Even if they get the chance to meet them, it doesn't mean they'll be together. It's fairly common knowledge at this point that some celebrities marry for prestige, power, money, or a combination of any of those and unfortunately, that can keep them from their soulmate. Other times, it's speculated people have more than one soulmate, which can be a problem if they are only in love with one person. Polyamory became widely accepted once this whole soulmate program was invented, as there people who had more than one soulmate, and everyone could live happily together. It certainly wasn't for everyone, but that's why this program was so great; no one uncomfortable with being in a polyamorous relationship has ever been in one. Multiple soulmates wasn't a problem, but having it be one sided was. Every once in a while, for some explainable reason, only one of the people in what was supposed to be a bond, was actually bonded with the other person. The other person was either already in a relationship with another soulmate, or they felt nothing for this person. We had a name for these types of situations, anyone experiencing one sided love was referred to as an unrequited, though not to their face, ever. It was rare and extremely painful, but it happened, and now that I was thinking about it I was getting extremely nervous. Luckily, my sister picked up on it.

"You look scared, are you okay? You're thinking about the unrequited, aren't you?" I nodded and she smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading me back to the kitchen. "Don't be! If you're this happy, and you had a dream, that already means your bond isn't unrequited. Whoever it is is bonded with you, too." I nodded again as we resumed our positions in the kitchen to finish peeling and cutting vegetables, feeling better from her reassurance. 

"Not to mention, we caught it right out the gate with you, which means we know more about your soulmate than we did when I was going through it." I glanced over my shoulder as I continued peeling, "What do you mean?"

"When I started having dreams we didn't realize until much later, but since we knew what to look for this time, we caught it the first night! Which means-wait, what time did you fall asleep last night?" I thought back, remembering coming home from hers and responded, "a bit after midnight. I got back home from yours at almost 12 exactly, so I was asleep by...I dunno, maybe 12:30?"

She smiled excitedly. "That means today is your soulmate's birthday! You fell asleep after midnight, which means you technically fell asleep today. Wow, to think, you'd be meeting your soulmate tonight if I hadn't argued with you to bring home leftovers. You're welcome!" I rolled my eyes but couldn't help smiling as we went back to meal prep. A couple minutes passed in silence before I heard her toying with her phone, and turned just in time to see her put something into YouTube's search bar. I went back to what I was doing until Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love' blasted out of my sister's phone, and I threw my head back and laughed. I turned to her to see she had already been facing me, waiting to see my reaction to the song. I held my hand out and she willingly gave me her phone. I typed in what I was looking for, and then smiled and swayed a little as Bobby Darin started to sing, and I sang along.

_Every night I hope and pray_

_A dream lover will come my way_

_A girl to hold in my arms_

_And know the magic of her charms_

The song continued into the chorus, and I continued to sing along, with my sister happily tapping the beat on her counter.

_I want a dream lover_

_So I don't have to dream alone_

 

The song continued to play, despite being softly interrupted by Jesse opening the door, waving hello to me and pulling my sister into a hug before looking around for ways to help. Then they noticed the song.

"What's this?" I turned to look at them, but my sister beat me to it. "Babe, she had the dream last night!" Jesse's eyes widened before they turned to me and burst into an enormous smile, walked over and pulled me into a hug, practically picking me up off the ground. "That's incredible, congratulations!"

 

After that, the night went by in a whirlwind. Jesse kept prodding me for more about my soulmate, though there was only so much I could tell them since I couldn't remember my dream. The subject quickly switched to a YouTuber Jesse had discovered that week, which kind of allowed me to zone out.

After dinner, I waved goodbye and made my way home, feeling a surprising amount of eagerness to get back to my bed. My phone interrupted my thoughts with a friendly little chirp, telling me a friend of mine was doing a live stream. Looks like my bed, and possibly my soulmate, were going to have to wait. 

As I reached my building, I felt someone reach out and wrap their arms around me from behind, and I froze up immediately. Just as quickly as they had touched me, they released me, with a loud apology, "I'm so sorry, I keep forgetting you don't like that."

I spun around quickly and was met with big brown puppy dog eyes, and a sheepish, apologetic smile. I relaxed, recognizing Elliot; my good friend, and neighbor. 

"It's alright, I'm just still not used to it. How'd your date go tonight?" I asked, unlocking the door to our building, making sure he was in before letting it swing shut. 

"Ah, it went okay? I guess. Don't think I'll call her again, though." I smiled, rolling my eyes when he couldn't see. I loved Elliot, he was a great friend, but no one in our friend circle could deny that he had always been a lady's man, and used it to his advantage. He was conventionally attractive, had a deeper voice, and always looked very sincere, which is probably why he had women and men alike that would fall all over him. 

We were still talking as I approached the door to my apartment. I hesitated for a minute before asking, "Hey, you wanna hang out for a bit? Mariah started up her live stream for the night, so I might jump on and play the game with her, if you wanna come with." Elliot lit up and nodded, excusing himself to get his computer and come back. After a few minutes we were fully set up and playing alongside Mariah while I started streaming on my own channel. It was small, mostly being used to talk to and play games with friends that lived on the other side of the country.

 

After a few hours, we both signed off. Almost immediately, I got a text from Mariah. 

_Hey hun! Thanks for joining me tonight. Are you free tomorrow? Wanna hang out?_

I smiled and sent of a quick response.

_Hey! Thanks for letting me and Elliot jump in, it was really fun! I'm around, let's hash out details tomorrow morning, I'm exhausted._

I looked over at Elliot, who had gotten up to stretch and pack his laptop and mic back up. He turned to me once he was done, looking ready to crash.

"Thanks for having me over, I had fun. Wanna do something next week?" I smiled and nodded while leading him to the door. When the door closed behind him I immediately started undressing, changing into pajamas. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and collapsed into bed. 

I hadn't been lying down for more than 5 minutes when sleep claimed me, and I got pulled into a living space I was now not confused to see. I looked around for Ethan, and found him on the couch we had sat on the night before, waiting for me. 

When he saw me, he lit up, jumped off the couch, and pulled me into his arms, "I'm so happy you're here!" I smiled up at him and returned the hug, excited to start another night getting to know my soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs mentioned in this chapter, in order, were:  
> Crazy in Love by Beyonce  
> Dream Lover by Bobby Darin
> 
> Both of these are drastically different sounding songs but I highly recommend them.


	4. Hiatus

Hi friends!

First off, I wanna say thank you so so much for reading the first couple chapters, I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I did writing them, but that brings me to why I'm writing this.

I've known about this for a bit, but Ethan finally went public with his girlfriend, and they're adorable together! However, because this is now publicly acknowledged, and it's still such a new relationship, I don't feel super comfortable writing this fic, not yet at least. Anyone who has checked out my other work, Roll For It, which is about ProJared (who is happily married), would know that I don't exactly shy away from writing about people in relationships. But, and I don't know that this will make sense to others, the headspace I get into that allows me to write the way I do is not a comfortable headspace to be in while I know there's a really new, developing relationship. 

The TLDR: Because Ethan and Mika are in a new relationship, this story will be going on hiatus. I want to make it clear that I am NOT shelving this story, it will be back, but for now I think this is just a respectful thing to do, for both of them.

But! Since I won't be working on this story for a bit, that opens me up to other opportunities! If there are any other YouTubers you'd really like to see a fic of, don't be afraid to comment and ask about it, or send me a message! I love to write, and look forward to my next project while I wait for this one to feel right to write again. 

Thanks, everyone!  
SS

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed that short first chapter, the rest of them will probably be longer than that! This chapter my not have been super interesting, but it was important to set the ground work for the rest of the chapters so everyone is on the same page for how this 'world' works.   
> Alright, hope to see you in the next chapter!


End file.
